Sunday, January 5, 2014

From San Antonio Express News EL PASO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sentenced a former West Texas county judge and a local businessman to four years in prison each on public corruption charges.

Anthony Cobos, who was the highest administrative official in El Paso between 2007 and 2010, pleaded guilty in September to taking bribes from local businessman Lorenzo Hilario Aguilar in exchange for his vote and influence to steer a $40 million county bond refinancing contract to an investment bank. U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo handed Cobos a $10,000 fine Friday, in additional to the prison sentence, while Aguilar will have to pay $50,000.

The charges stem from a massive investigation by the FBI into public corruption in El Paso that resulted in the indictment of more than three-dozen people, including three former county judges, local businessmen and other politicians.

"I ask for forgiveness, I am a changed man. ... I pray for leniency," he said, adding that as a result from the indictment he had the opportunity to recommit his life to Christ.

Yeah - right.

2013 ended with two tragedies in San Antonio. First, a police officer was shot in the head when he stopped a car driven by a thug on the run after a robbery.

SAN ANTONIO — A crowd of thousands is expected to attend the funeral Saturday for slain San Antonio police Officer Robert Deckard, whose visitation began Thursday.There has been an outpouring of support for the officer and his family following the Dec. 8 shooting that left him in intensive care for 13 days before he was taken off life support. He was declared dead on Dec. 20.The 7-year veteran and father of two was shot in the head during a high-speed chase with two robbery suspects who have since been charged with capital murder.

Then, a young woman who anyone would be proud to have raised as their daughter was murdered in a park.

SAN ANTONIO — A woman found dead at O.P. Schnabel Park on New Year's Eve suffered multiple stab wounds, police said Thursday.

The death of Lauren Bump, 24, is being investigated as a homicide. She was found just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Northwest Side park in the 9600 block of Bandera Road.

The main stream media like to crow how violent crime rates have declined nationwide. That's makes no difference if you or your loved one is a victim. I wish every girl woman, as soon as she is mature enough to handle a firearm, would get trained to use a pistol and get her CHL. And take practical martial arts, probably the Israeli system Krav Maga, mixed with a no-frills down and dirty system like FAST, - which is run by Bill Kipp, a former Recon Marine. Also, read The Gift of Fear, by Gavin DeBecker. The first line of defense is to stay out of areas and situations that put you at risk. It is a sad fact of life in the USA that an attractive woman is not safe alone in many areas. It's unfair, but there it is.

For women (or men for that matter) interested in a concealable pistol, I recommend the Sig Sauer P238, a .380 semi-auto. Academy sells them at $100 less than anyone else.

Obama's hometown Chicago continues to be a cesspool and war zone. From the Chicago Tribune:

Year's first killing among at least 5 shootings citywide

CHICAGO

UNDER THE GUN

Violence plagues many Chicago neighborhoods. The staccato sound of gunfire echoes on streets and alleys. Blue lights illuminate darkened scenes. Tribune photographers are documenting how gun violence shocks and destabilizes neighborhoods — and how families cope with the constant pain of loss. This ongoing special report contains photo galleries, videos, links to Tribune crime apps and overnight accounts of crimes. Because of the nature of violence, you will encounter graphic images and explicit language. But please watch. Our city’s future is at risk.http://graphics.chicagotribune.com/under-the-gun/

Michael Scheuer has a great piece on the incompetence of Obama in foreign relations. He is balanced, as he is just as hard on Bush as he is on Obama.

As they head further down the road of losing wars and wrecking
Anglo-American liberties, Messrs Obama and Cameron and their supporters
in all parties would do well to read the words of the great 17th century
English republican Algernon Sidney, a man who was revered on both sides
of the Atlantic, who greatly influenced America’s founders, and who was
executed by the British Crown for what it described as sedition. “There
must therefore be a right,” Sidney wrote,
“of proceeding judicially or extra-judicially against all persons who
transgress the laws; or else those laws, and the societies that should
subsist by them, cannot stand; and the ends for which governments are
constituted, together with the governments themselves, must be
overthrown. … If he [a political leader] be justly accounted an enemy of
all, who injures all; he above all must be the publick enemy of a
nation, who by usurping power over them, does the greatest and most
publick injury that a people can suffer. For which reason, by an
established law among the most virtuous nations, every man might kill a
tyrant; and no names are recorded in history with more honor, than of
those who did it. … They [the people] know how to preserve their
liberty, or to vindicate the violation of it; and the more patient they
have been, the more inflexible they are when they resolve to be so no
longer. Those who are so foolish to put them upon such courses, do to
their cost find that there is a difference between lions and asses; and
he is a fool who knows not that swords were given to men, that none
might be slaves….”*

3 comments:

All last year, the AM talk crowd was instructed to be mad about the soaring crime rate in Chicago. As usual, the words came out of the radio, into the ears and went straight to the heart, bypassing the brain. We were told by Rush and others that the liberal governance in Chicago has failed the city, and that Chicago was being transformed into a “Mad Max” movie. The inference was is that liberals must be removed from power or the rest of the US will follow in line.

It was all a lie, and telling lies to generate fear is the bread and butter of propagandists.

The lies about Chicago come from the same bunch to told you the economic crisis of 2008 was largely due to the Community Reinvestment Act, and that f** Barney Frank. Take a look back at what Rush and Glenn are telling you, and you will see a clear pattern of propaganda designed to benefit the Plutocracy.

The real truth is Liberalism works. Chicago, like any big city in America has plenty of crime, but under the leadership of Rham Emanuel, the city’s crime rate plummeted in 2013, while some conservative led cities like Phoenix had increasing crime rates.

Not only does liberalism work in the US, it works everywhere. Take a look at the standard of living in the world as accessed by any credible organization and you will find that the US is not at the top of any list and all countries above the US are liberal / socialist countries.

Picking out pictures of violent crime and then projecting these incidents as the state of the city’s crime growth / decline is not a valid argument.

First off I want to sayy supeeb blog! I had a quick question in which I'd like to ask if you don't mind. I wwas curious to know how you center yourself and clear your head before writing. I've had a tough time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out.I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend tto be lost just trying tto figure out hoow to begin. Any recommendations or hints?Many thanks!

I did a long response and somehow deleted it or the computer lost power. Which reminds me of one of the most important things when writing anything - SAVE! Thank for the kind words. I get up early and scan the web for interesting stories. I look at the major sites across the spectrum - Drudge, HuffPo, Salon, Breitbart, etc. The best legal site is Grits for Breakfast, by Austin lawyer Scott Hansen. Then I move to the "harder" sources - Washington Post (free online), Washington Times, and the big Texas dailies - Houston, Austin and San Antonio, because I have business or family there. I have another browser open in Blogger.com, so I can move back and forth and cut and paste link and short excerpts. I also read a lot, mostly history, biography and current events, and some fiction, and make notes of anything that catches my eye. When I have enough material, I add some comments and post it. I hope this helps.

About Me

I was born and raised in the South, and lived over 15 years in Louisiana, including Gretna (across the river from NOLA), Hammond, Baton Rouge and for a short time in New Iberia. My dad worked in the oil industry, including the offshore business.
I graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1980 and have been a trial lawyer for 34 years. I'm board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in practice in Personal injury Trial Law, Civil Trial Law, and Criminal Law. I am the only board certified criminal defense lawyer in Kerrvile. I serve clients throughout the Texas Hill Country. Visit my new law firm website www.richellison.com